CORRIE star Liz Dawn has revealed her grief over beloved co-star Bill Tarmey, saying: “I know he’ll be waiting for me at the gates of Heaven.”

The soap legend, who played Vera Duckworth alongside Bill as her husband Jack, cried for days after he died.

But she says she was finally comforted by the thought that Bill, who died aged 71, was finally at peace and free from the pain of his debilitating health problems.

Frail Liz, 73, also poignantly revealed how he would have been relieved to go before his seriously ill son Carl…the “precious boy” he quit Corrie in 2010 to care for.

“Bill was my best friend and I loved him dearly,” she said. “I will never meet anybody so kind and generous. He had the heart of a lion, and I miss him terribly.”

Her moving tribute comes two months after Bill, who had a long history of heart and breathing problems, was discovered dead in bed at his holiday home in Tenerife.

Liz quit Corrie two years before Bill because of her own serious illness. She has suffered for many years from the lung disease emphysema, and has until now been too ill to talk publicly since Bill’s death.

Liz Dawn

Speaking at the Granada TV studios in Manchester, where for more than three decades she and Bill filmed for Corrie, Liz’s breathing is now so bad she arrived in a wheelchair and can no longer walk further than a few steps.

Only two weeks ago she was rushed to ­hospital and admitted for two days for treatment. She relies heavily on doting husband Donald and her four children to look after her.

Liz said: “I’m so glad to be able to do this interview. I know it could be my last but there is still so much I want to do and say.”

She is keen to publicise her campaign to help children with cleft palates. She was inspired to get involved because she had plastic surgery on her mouth as a child after being disfigured in an ­accident.

“I see pictures of those kiddies in the paper and I worry terribly about them,” she said. “I want to help them while I have still got the chance.

“Bill would definitely have approved of that. He was a kind and decent man.”

It’s just the latest good cause she has ­supported in a lifetime of fundraising, much of it done alongside Bill. Together they have helped to raise millions.

The pair were the nation’s favourite husband and wife double act on TV. Off-screen, they were best mates, enjoying holidays together with their families. Their friendship continued after they both quit the Street.

Although several weeks have passed since Bill’s death, grief is still etched on Liz’s face.

She admitted: “I am still in shock.

“Don’t get me wrong, I knew Bill wasn’t well. We would talk on the phone most weeks and each time he rang it was something else– it would be his pacemaker or his breathing or his legs.

“The last time we met up he had lost loads of weight and his appetite had gone. My husband used to say, ‘Bill doesn’t look well, does he?’

“But he was so strong and overcame so many issues that you felt he would just go on forever.

“I used to joke that if we ever had World War Three I would be behind him.”

Liz’s voice faltered as she recalled the last time she saw him.

“It was about a week before he died,” she said. “Both Bill and I would go for reiki at a clinic run by Bill’s brother Alan.

“After my appointment Alan said, ‘Bill is coming, why don’t you stop and see him.’ So I waited and I waited. For some reason he was late. Eventually I said, ‘I think we’d better go’.

“As we drove away we passed Bill but he didn’t see us. I wished I had turned back and spoke to him one last time. I regret not doing that.”

Days later, Bill’s sister-in-law called with the bad news. Liz said: “She told me Bill had died in Tenerife. I just burst into tears.

“Then I rang the Street. I knew that many of them probably would not know.

“Although he left the show years ago, he was still the grandfather and everybody loved him.

“I just cried and cried for days. I’d sit there thinking about all the times we spent together. All the laughter we shared. The days on the Street. The charity work we did together.

“When someone dies, you are often crying for yourself and what you have lost.”

Liz said that eventually she was able to deal with her grief, comforted by the fact that Bill was no longer in pain.

“In some ways I was happy for Bill,” she said. “My God, did I see him suffer, especially on our final few months on Corrie. He used to get so tired and out of breath.

“I would knock on his dressing room door and he would on the floor. All you could see were his feet under a blanket. I’d shout, ‘Come on, Bill’ and he’d get up and we’d go off to do our scene.

“Sadly, after he left the show, his health ­deteriorated even more. He wouldn’t give up those fags, even though I screamed at him to.”

Bill was distraught when his son Carl, 45, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009 and was told he may have only a few years to live.

He quit the Street in 2010 and dedicated his life to raising awareness of the need for more research into his son’s illness.

One of the last times Bill and Liz were together was when they went back to Corrie last year for Wear A Hat Day in aid of Brain Tumour Research.

In private, Bill had spent many hours with his pal spilling out his anguish over Carl, crying with her to save offloading on his family.

Liz told how he would often say he couldn’t bear the thought of outliving his son.

“Bill loved Carl,” she said. “He adored all his family and he used to say it was so unfair his ‘precious boy’ should be ill.

“He always said he didn’t want to see his son go. His wish was to go before him and that is how it turned out.”

In the past few weeks, Liz believes she has felt her friend’s presence beside her.

She said: “Bill was a great believer in ghosts. I have a desk in my room where I do a lot of writing. Since Bill died, I swear I have felt like someone is watching me.”

Fond memories are helping Liz come to terms with his death.

She added: “I dream of him all the time. He pops into my mind most days – an episode we have both been in or a place we have both visited together.”

Liz believes there is one final scene to come. She added: “I know he will be waiting for me when it is my time to go. I hope he is waiting at the gates of Heaven with that smile ready to welcome me in.”